The sky outside was bruised with twilight, the kind that felt heavy. Like the world was holding its breath.
Cain sat in the hallway just outside their mother's room. His head leaned back against the cold wall, fingers twitching around a chipped silver ring he hadn't taken off since he was seventeen. The ring was his father's. Or rather, the man they thought was their father.
Selene quietly slid down beside him, knees brushing.
"You're thinking too loud," she said gently.
Cain gave her a small smile. "Didn't know thoughts had volu."
"They do when you're avoiding them."
Ayden stood beside their mother's bed, arms crossed but eyes soft. She stirred occasionally—still caught in so dream that had kept her quiet for days. Lucien was perched on the windowsill, watching the moon like it was judging him.
"Do you think she rembers him?" Lucien asked.
Ayden didn't answer imdiately. Then: "She rembers more than she lets on."
Lucien swung his legs slowly. "You think she knew what dad really was?"
Ayden finally turned to him. "No. But she suspected. We all did. She just loved him anyway."
"That's the most terrifying thing about love," Lucien said softly. "You can know sothing's wrong and still stay."
Cain finally pulled a torn envelope from his coat pocket. The one he'd found tucked behind their father's portrait—long hidden in the walls of the ruined study.
Selene peeked over. "What's that?"
He didn't answer imdiately. Instead, he read:
> My sons will never know what I've done. I sealed it away to protect them. But if the door ever opens—tell Cain to burn what's left. Don't let them find .
It was signed: Ezekiel.
Selene's voice cracked the silence. "You never told them."
"They don't need more weight." His voice was low. "Lucien would make jokes to mask it. Ayden would go silent. And neither of them deserve to feel like they're part of him."
She touched his hand. "But they are."
"I know." He sighed. "So am I."
Eira was outside training alone, her blade slicing through the air with an edge sharper than necessary. Her hits were harder. Her breathing, faster.
Lucien walked out with two mugs of tea balanced in his hands. "Brought you sothing warm, firecracker."
She didn't stop. "I'm fine."
"Yeah," Lucien said, placing the mugs down. "You're definitely not swinging that sword like you're imagining Selene's face on every training dummy."
Eira paused. "I don't care about Selene."
Lucien leaned against the tree. "Liar."
Eira glared at him. "It's not about jealousy. It's about being forgotten. I ca back because I thought there was a piece of Cain still holding on. But he moved on. And I... I didn't."
Lucien's face softened. "You're not the only one who feels like an extra piece in soone else's story."
Eira finally took the mug, muttering, "Shut up, tea boy."
Cain paced in the old library, his eyes locked on a dusty spellbook, lips pressed in a hard line. Selene sat cross-legged on the couch, watching him like a cat watches a storm.
"What are you planning?" she asked.
"Sealing it again won't work," he muttered. "We have to find Ezekiel."
Selene's eyes widened. "You think he's alive?"
"No," Cain said darkly. "But sothing of him is. A soul fragnt. A cursed echo. A mory locked in blood."
Selene stood. "Then we find it. Together."
Cain's hand caught hers. "Are you sure?"
"Cain," she whispered, brushing her thumb over his knuckles. "There's nowhere I'd rather be than in your corner."
Ayden wandered the hallway that led deeper underground. Past the crypt. Beyond the ancestral stones. Until he reached a locked room even the three brothers never spoke of.
Inside was a chair.
A mirror.
A mark carved into the wall in black fla.
He placed his palm over it.
And it burned.
As the moon reached its peak, the brothers stood together once more in the war room. Selene beside Cain. Eira awkwardly between Lucien and Ayden.
Cain laid the letter on the table. Lucien scanned it, jaw tightening.
"He knew Silas would escape one day," Cain said. "And he left us breadcrumbs."
Ayden closed his eyes. "Then we follow them."
Selene nodded. "But be careful. Breadcrumbs are sotis laid to lead you into a trap."
Lucien added, "Or into your own ruin."
Cain looked at them all. His family. Fractured, scarred, stupid, loyal.
But his.
And he said, "Then let's walk into the fire together."
The secrets buried with Ezekiel begin to surface. The family stands at the edge of truth, love, and betrayal. And in the distance, Silas watches... waiting.
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